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Media Literacy/Transcript
Transcript Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby Moby sits in a dark room at a desktop computer, reading posts on a social networking site. A link invites him to shop online. He clicks on the link and several advertisements appear on his screen. As he gets lost in the offers of merchandise, the doorbell rings. Tim opens the front door. It is now daylight, and there are piles of boxes on the house's front step. TIM: Whoa. The piles of boxes shudder and fall into the house, burying Tim. TIM: Aargh! Moby! Moby runs to the fallen mass of boxes. MOBY: Beep. Tim's head pokes out from one of the boxes. TIM: Have you been going online without your special glasses? Moby is embarrassed. MOBY: Beep. Moby produces a special pair of glasses. Text on the side of glasses reads: Skeptacles. Tim reads from a typed letter. TIM: Dear Tim and Moby, I know I can't believe everything I see and read. But how do I know what to trust? From, Melody (Detroit). Tim rises to his feet. TIM: Yeah, there's a ton of information we need to sort through these days. Most kids spend more than half their waking hours consuming media. That's any form of communication that reaches many people at once. Websites and magazines, games and TV shows, it's all part of the media. It also includes any advertisement you see or hear. An animation shows a boy walking down a sidewalk, with entertainment and advertising media all around him. TIM: All this stuff is a constant part of our environment today. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Yes, it is wonderful. But you have to remember that these messages don't come out of nowhere. They're each made by someone, and that means they always have a purpose. Tim looks at a tablet. Text of a headline on the tablet reads: 10 Most Magnificent Sunsets. An icon invites the reader to like this article. TIM: These goals are often hidden, and they may not be in your best interest. Moby puts on his Skeptacles glasses and looks at Tim's tablet. Text on the Like icon now reads: Like this article so we can bug all your friends about it. TIM: So it's a good idea to be skeptical, or doubtful. MOBY: Beep. Moby holds a magazine called Starz Magazine. Text on the cover reads: New Hungry Maze Movie. There is a picture of a maze and a chicken leg to go with the text. TIM: That doesn't mean that news and social networks aren't fun or useful. But you have to understand their goals to judge their credibility. That's how trustworthy you think a message is. Tim takes the magazine from Moby and flips through its pages. TIM: Hmm. A rave review of a blockbuster sequel? Tim examines an article in the magazine. Text of the article's headline reads: Hungry Maze serves up food for thought and tons of adrenaline in equal doses. An illustration shows a teenaged girl sitting outside a maze, eating a chicken leg. MOBY: Beep. Moby is excited about the movie. TIM: Not so fast. The people that own the magazine also run the studio that made the movie. They own the fast food places serving those Hungry Maze meal deals, and they even have a gaming company to make Hungry Maze apps. Moby puts on his Skeptacles and looks at the magazine. An animation represents the corporate connections that Tim describes. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Yeah. Connecting those doubts makes you realize all media has a particular point of view. They speak with a bias: a slant on how they see the world. Even serious news outlets have biases. Editors choose which stories to run and how they're reported. An image shows two newspapers. The first newspaper features an image of a closed business and a headline that reads: Bust! Only 120k new jobs added. The second newspaper shows graph with a line rocketing up and a headline that reads: Boom! 120k new jobs added! TIM: Even if they're trying their best to avoid bias, personal views will always influence these stories. MOBY: Beep. Moby pulls up his Skeptacles, resting them on his forehead. TIM: No one can be completely impartial, not even us. But you don't need special glasses to get to the truth: You just have to ask some questions. An animation shows Moby's Skeptacles. A large red X appears over them. A buzzer sounds. TIM: Like, what's the message of this piece of media? Who created it? What biases might they hold? And what effect do they hope their message will have? Finding the answers can help decode the media all around us! An animation shows a four-piece jigsaw puzzle. Each piece appears as Tim lists his questions. The first puzzle piece shows an image of an athletic shoe. Text on the piece reads: Kix Shoes. The second puzzle piece shows a silhouette and a similar image of the shoe, to represent the creator. The third piece shows a balance scale. The fourth piece shows a silhouette standing next to a computer screen that is displaying another image of the shoe, to represent the viewer or consumer. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Ads are often the easiest to read. You already know the intended effect: that you buy something! Puzzle pieces illustrate that when a person sees a shoe ad, they consider buying the shoe. TIM: But advertisers use all kinds of subtle tricks to get you to do that. They might obscure who's behind the product or hide the fact that it's an ad at all. For instance, product placement puts popular brands inside movies and shows. An image shows a group watching a film in a movie theater. The film's heroine is holding a large bucket of buffalo wings as she runs across the screen. TIM: And traditional ads have dozens of ways to make the product seem more appealing. An image shows a magazine ad for wrinkle-removing creme. The woman's face in the ad is young and smooth on one side and elderly and wrinkled on the other. The tagline reads: less wrinkles in a month! MOBY: Beep. TIM: First, almost every image is altered, or changed. Pimples are erased, waists are slimmed, and teeth are whitened. An animation shows an image of a smiling young woman holding a can of soda. The image is on a computer screen, and the woman's appearance is altered as Tim describes. TIM: Backgrounds are changed to look more interesting. The soda ad's background changes from a warehouse interior to the top of the Great Wall of China. The altered woman remains in the ad. TIM: Media images can make it seem like we all look the same way. But people come in all colors, shapes, and sizes. An animation shows young people of different genders and races looking at the soda ad on a tablet. MOBY: Beep. Moby walks to a window. A billboard across the street displays an energy bar ad. Text on the billboard reads: Now with 25 percent more protein! TIM: Some ads use scientific claims or statistics. The claims may be true, but there's often more to the story. Moby puts his Skeptacles over his eyes. The billboard's text now reads: Now with 25 percent more protein and twice as much sugar! TIM: Other ads work by connecting products with celebrities or cute mascots. Moby looks out the window at another billboard. This one has three smiling young men in a row. The one in the middle holds a guitar. Text on the billboard reads: Jeanz. TIM: You know some jeans can't make you rich and famous, but the connection works on a subconscious level. When Moby looks at the billboard through his Skeptacles, additional text reads: You can't buy cool. TIM: Next time you're shopping, you'll be more likely to buy that brand. If you question what you see, you can break these connections! An animation shows Moby in a clothing store. He holds a pair of Jeanz and thinks about buying them. But then he pictures the young men on the billboard, frowns, and shakes his head. The mental picture disappears, and Moby smiles. MOBY: Beep. TIM: It's not just advertising. All media use similar strategies to grab your attention. Like the stories in your newsfeed. They use sensationalism, shocking or exaggerated language, to convince you to click. An animation represents a newsfeed on a computer screen. Examples of sensationalism appear in the scrolling feed, including: Cutest Ever, Most Dangerous, and Best Reasons To. TIM: Social media is flooded with sensationalist stories. And everything you read, write, and share is traced. It's called data tracking, and networks use it to send you similar posts. An animation shows a small robot at a computer, clicking on a post that reads: Craziest Car Chase Ever. A video of a car chase opens and plays. Similar videos and images follow as the robot continues watching and clicking. TIM: Following the same kinds of stories all the time can really distort your view of the world. An animation shows Moby driving a car. The small robot is in the passenger seat next to Moby, sweating and ranting about car crashes. TIM: So it's smart to get news from a variety of sources. You'll expose yourself to ideas and topics you might otherwise miss. MOBY: Beep. Tim looks toward Moby. Moby has crawled under a sofa to hide. TIM: I know it can feel overwhelming, but you can't hide from the media. You just have to learn to read the messages, like how we learn to read books. That's what media literacy is all about! MOBY: Beep. Moby comes out from under the sofa and is now hiding behind it. TIM: Well, in your case, I guess you can just keep wearing these. Tim hands Moby the Skeptacles. Moby reaches to take them and accidentally knocks them from Tim's hand. They fly across the room. TIM: Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo... The Skeptacles hit the wall, fall to the floor, and shatter. Tim walks to them, picks up a piece of shattered lens, and examines it. TIM: Huh. The scene changes. Tim and Moby now sit on the sofa in front of their television. Each is eating from a bag of chips. Sitcom laughter can be heard. Moby looks at the screen through the piece of the lens that Tim retrieved. He smiles as he watches the New Hungry Maze Movie. Category:BrainPOP Transcripts Category:BrainPOP Engineering & Technology Transcripts Category:BrainPOP English Transcripts Category:BrainPOP Social Studies Transcripts